According to receiver A.J. Brown, the Patriots were trusting their cornerbacks on the outside, but clogging up the middle with defenders passing off in match-up zones.

“I think Belichick did a really good job of just throwing lots of stuff at us,” Brown said. “Changing a lot of things up at the last minute, and it was tough. I don’t think we were not prepared, but I just think he was throwing so many curveballs and it was just hard to adjust.”

Hurts, though, had a different take on the Patriots’ pre-snap disguises.

“The NFL is a huge league of disguises,” he said. “That’s what it is … so for us, I don’t think it’s necessarily about anyone else. It’s about us and how we control the things that we can.”

Hurts completed 9 of 13 passes in the first half, but for just 47 yards. Johnson’s halftime adjustments opened up the passing game some in the second half. Brown and Smith caught nine passes for 126 yards after the break.

But New England took away the deep half from the outside receivers and, most impressively, the short half from Dallas Goedert. The tight end was shut out and had only one target the entire game. Some of that had to do with the defense, but there were a few occasions when Hurts simply missed him.

“We can’t go a game without getting him the football. He’s too good of a playmaker,” Sirianni said. “But there were some things that the Patriots did that made it difficult to get him quick, easy touches.”

8 comments

  1. This is why people need to relax about us not blowing the Patriots out. They were a Top 5 defense last season and are still coached by a living legend. Our defense troubles can be attributed to the offense being stagnant all 2nd half. I think the Patriots played a great game in bad weather conditions and the Eagles never even let them take the lead. Seeing all the upsets that happened in Week 1 i don’t think anyone should be upset with that win.

  2. Tony Romo pointed out during the game that the Patriots threw a coverage at the Eagles that he had never seen before. There’s a reason why the guy is a HOF coach.

    That being said, the tape is there. The team will figure it out and while other teams will likely try to copy what the Pats did against the Eagles, none of those other teams have Bill Belichick.

  3. These dudes were out there, confused as hell. The new OC was confused as hell. Jalen wasn’t seeing the field because he was confused as hell and hadn’t played since February. This says a lot about the Eagles, though. Because you have to play literally almost a perfect game to beat them. Belichick was in his bag, but it didn’t matter.

  4. all the talk is that the league is going to regret letting us draft Jalen Carter, and that’s entirely valid, but the league is also going to regret letting Bill Belichick get his hands on Christian Gonzalez

  5. I came away from that game thinking the Eagles looked rough, but the patriots aren’t going to be a joke either. A lot of our lack of offensive success was due to excellent defense more than specific players or game planning.

  6. Turns out playing against the greatest defensive mind of all time is fucking hard. (Say it in Pats voice).

  7. Eagles didn’t look good yet won (and covered the spread) on the road against arguably the greatest coach in NFL history. I’ll happily take it in week 1. However, the Eagles certainly need to play better going forward as the 49ers and Cowboys both looked fantastic.

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